As mentioned in an earlier post, Senator Hutchison (R-TX) proposed a point of order motion on the H.R. 3043 Conference Report. This point of order would remove the Military Construction / Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill from the Conference Report and return the bill to providing funding for only the departments it contained when previously passed (including Department’s of Labor, Health & Human Services and Education).
The Senate is now voting on a waiver motion offered by Senator Harkin (D-IA). This motion, if passed, would waive the ability to have a vote on Senator Hutchison’s point of order. The motion will require 60 affirmative votes to pass. To help simplify the process, if this vote passes it essentially means that both bills (Department’s of Labor, etc. and the Veterans Affairs Bill) will stay packaged together in this single Conference Report.
Vote: 47 (Y) to 46 (N) – This motion did not receive the necessary 60 affirmative votes and was not agreed to. (Roll Call Vote)
